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Editorial

Paper progress

By Nagaland Post | Publish Date: 10/7/2018 12:46:46 PM IST

Progress in today’s context has always meant that certain things are taken for granted. It is 54 years after Nagaland became a state and the five decades is a very long time when progress should have attained a higher level. However, the unfortunate fact is that many thing which are often taken for granted, aren’t exactly what they seem. Nagaland has been trumpeting so many achievements in various fields, be it –education, literacy, agriculture, industry, power and water supply etc. A case in point is Kiphire district with a population of around 40,000 and among one of the ‘Aspirational Districts’. Modern lifestyle has taken few things for granted such as having access to amenities like telephone, power supply, water, air and land transport system, market etc so much ‘the essence of life’. In fact, these are considered as bare essentials in a modern society and over which there is no debate. Despite some progress being made in education, society is still to evolve a general concept about the path it needs to take that call for giving up the little privileges in exchange for the bigger and better ones. However, it appears that the acclaimed (or self-acclaimed) achievements exist in a contradiction where it has but yet has not. Like most districts in Nagaland, Kiphire is facing acute shortage of water despite having at least seven known water sources in the form of rivers and streams. Even the state capital itself has water problems which become more acute during the dry winter months. Water and power are the two very important driving forces for progress which are nature’s bounty. Progress means having the needs for water and power met that should have made people live in better conditions. However the progress has been imbalanced and which reveals that it is not able to make people’s lives seem better. Most states have been able to fulfill basic needs and so for them, the journey appears to have reached its destination. For a 54-year old state like Nagaland, it is unfortunate that progress is just beginning. What is the government doing? It persists with laying down of pipelines and creating the necessary infrastructure to contain water but the problem is that the delivery system needs a thorough revamping. What should be done? Rainwater harvest: a good sounding scheme but somehow requires total involvement of the government since it will take some time before the idea really catches on. Such ideas need to be given serious thought since rainwater harvesting is also becoming an essential part of sustenance. Perhaps, it would be only right to mention how citizens of Dimapur have long ceased to depend on the grandiose multi-crore rupee schemes of the government through self-dependence. In a way, the PHE department has no role with regard to water supply in Dimapur. All the pipes are mute remnants of a bygone era when Nagaland was ‘piped’ so many times over in paper and those involved skimmed off or siphoned off hundreds of crore rupees. If there are river sources, then what is preventing these from being tapped? It is an irony that Nagaland has a dry law (liquor prohibition) on paper but is totally wet and while it has so many rivers, it is actually dry. If the government cannot resolve such issues then there is a serious need to relook at the Article 371A in the state assembly.